Forum:Article Structure
This thread is for discussing the structure of articles on the wiki, any issues with existing structures, suggestions for improvement and any changes that might need to be made (please discuss any possible changes here rather than changing the article structure straight away). Inept Wiki User (talk) 13:20, January 12, 2013 (UTC) The current structure of the character articles is currently like this. Firstly there is an infobox (positioned top-right), then there is the first paragraph followed by the table of contents. The sections that follow are, in order, Appearance, Personality & Character, Background, Plot, Skills & Abilities, Relationships, Gallery, Trivia, References, followed by any naviboxes and finally the categories. The Appearance section is usually divided by the designs in different mediums (Light Novels, Anime, Manga). The Plot section is split by headers for the individual story arcs with a short bit in brackets beside it indicating if the events described are exclusive to one medium (Novel-Only, Anime-Only or Manga-Only) (aside from indicating it at the individual section, it also indicates it in the contents). Relationships is divided by headers for characters and factions. After the reference list in the References '''section, if the article is a stub, the stub template with be placed before any naviboxes. The current structure of the ships articles starts again with the infobox, first bit and the contents. The sections are usually '''Design, Technology & Combat Characteristics, History, Crew (for individual ships) and References (followed by any naviboxes). Articles for ship classes usually have sections for known examples and the factions using them. Like the Appearance section, Design is usually divided first by medium (Light Novels, Anime, Manga) if the ship design differs between versions - these are then divided into''' Exterior, Interior and '''Colour Scheme, with Interior being further divided for different areas inside the ship. The current structure of the episode articles starts similarly. The sections are Synopsis, Major Events, Characters, Ships, Locations, Adaptation, Quotes, Trivia and References, followed by the navibox. For the Characters, Ships and Locations, any new ones are listed at the bottom of the section under a New ('''Section)' header. Under '''Quotes', there are usually headers for the Opening Narration, Next Episode Preview and Ending Quote. Inept Wiki User (talk) 21:57, January 12, 2013 (UTC) Character Articles, mostly: : I still think that Skills & Abilities should go before Plot. It isn't sensible to write about a character's involvement in the story - which will pretty much cover that character's various skills and abilities - without revealing all we can about that character beforehand. The Relationships section is fine after the Plot section, since it's of secondary importance. : Background can probably go before everything else, since it provides the background (heh heh) for the character. For the Gallery section, instead of individual images, we can converge relevant images into slides. For example: we can have various pictures of Marika's different outfits throughout the anime into one slide, and appropriately title that slide "Marika's outfits". : If we ever get the Parent Tab Template working, we can probably use that for the considerably larger articles, like Marika's. Sh1ba (talk) 06:20, January 21, 2013 (UTC) :I don't think Background should be placed separate from Plot due to the connection between the two (come to think of it, I've hardly ever seen these sections (or equivalents) apart on other wikis). I also don't think a slider would be the best option for the Gallery - for the example you gave, I feel it would be better to keep the examples separate rather than combining them. For the Parent Tab Template, as you said, we should keep it for articles that actually need it due to size. :It will probably take a fair amount of time to go through the different options that are available to ascertain the best ones. In the meantime, we should probably keep the articles to the existing layout for the sake of consistency. Also, I think it would be best to keep any structural experiments in the Sandbox, away from the articles. If we are going to change article structure, we should wait until we've gone through as many options as possible so that we don't overlook anything and there will be less messing about with the articles. :I've been looking at various different wikis and how their articles are laid out - I will write a bit on my findings when I get the chance. I'll also try to get some of my thoughts down properly (I have a bit of trouble doing so - sorry about this). Inept Wiki User (talk) 12:18, January 21, 2013 (UTC) How about this, then: we use the Parent Tab Template to make a tab for the character outline (appearance, personality, skills, relationships, trivia) and then make another tab for the character's background and involvement in the story.' '''We can also make a separate tab for the '''Gallery', if we're going to post individual images. Oh, and I've been meaning to ask for a while now. Isn't it supposed to be rōmaji and not romanji? Sh1ba (talk) 18:58, January 21, 2013 (UTC) Ah, yes. I'd best correct that at some point. Regarding the tabs - that arrangement with the personal information, history and gallery, is the sort of thing I had in mind for the larger character articles. Inept Wiki User (talk) 19:44, January 21, 2013 (UTC)